The Hudson

What a breathtaking train ride I just took from Albany to Manhattan! We hugged the glorious Hudson the entire way, and I had to stop what I was doing just to gaze out the window. Rain has made the river quite high, and the sunlight today made it shimmer, silvery and fast moving. Sometimes a bridge loomed above. Sometimes trees bent toward it. The time went so quickly that I arrived in NYC surprised to be there.

In another whirlwind of travel, but cannot complain about the weekend spent in Ithaca. The six hour drive with Annabelle early Saturday morning was more fun than I can describe. Fueled by Dunkin' Donuts glazed doughnuts and a big to go coffee for me, we chatted about prehistoric times, cave paintings, and the planets before settling in to listening to the first Boxcar Children Mystery. I bought four on CD, and their old fashioned charm won us both over. When we pulled into Ithaca at lunch time, after listening to the Chocolate Sundae Mystery, I drove directly to Purity Ice Cream where we had ice cream cones for lunch. Got to the college just in time for the matinee of LEGALLY BLOND and a glimpse of Sam who was subterranean while he rehearsed for his opening the next day. The play was fantastic, once again leaving me so impressed by the talent there. After we dropped off a cooler full of meatballs and sauce (from GoGo) and enchiladas (from me), Annabelle and I drove to meet Cousin Gina. The three of us went to the Fine Line Bistro (thank you, Stewart!) for a really yummy dinner.

Next morning I snuck out to Starbucks for lots of coffee and the Sunday Times until Sam woke up and we could go and get him for breakfast at Hal's, the Ithaca diner of legend. Lorne flew in from Portland, OR and landed just as we finished breakfast, so we got him at the airport and then went to hang out at Sam's apartment with his roommates and their parents. We went back to our room for wine and cheese--decided to eat it outside because it was so warm--before hitting the 5:00 DREAM OF THE BURNING BOY. What can I say about watching your child, your son, now a man, performing such an emotional play with such integrity? I was speechless when it ended, and teary eyed.

From there we went to the Commons and met Sam's roomie's parents for happy hour before we all went to the 8:00 show. Then dinner at Maxie's, the boys all aglow from their performances, the parents all aglow from pride. Shrimp and grits and andouille sausage...maybe that's why I didn't sleep very well? But up and out, coffee at Gimme and then the three hour ride to Albany and the train ride above.

I am now off to Uniqlo (quite a walk, which I need after riding all day) to buy a coat I almost bought in London last year and have regretted passing up ever since. Dinner at Otto with my darling friend, teaching at the New School until 10:30, then back here where this time I have a roomie, my good pal who I share this NYC pied a terre with. We are hardly ever here at the same time, so are excited that tonight we are! Slumber party!

Off tomorrow to Charlotte for a talk (and dinner with so many NC friends, cannot wait), then home on Wednesday. But immediately onward to Boston and Grub Streets's gala.

No wonder I am kind of tired today, though feeling very warm and fuzzy, basking in Sam's performance and in this warm weather and the promised of so much good girl friend time over the next few days.

My goal: finish Sam's blanket by end of the week.

Oh! You must read the Patrick Melrose novels. The first four come in one volume, and I cannot stop reading them. Droopy eyed and head bobbing, I have to keep reading every night!

Winter

I actually had to go and but a sweater yesterday when I got to NYC! It's in the low 30s, and gray as winter out there. (Actually, I am not complaining about a new sweater, especially a long ribbed purple one...) And I am going to wear that sweater again today when I venture outside. But meanwhile it is nice to stay under the covers and watch them unloading a truck in front of D'Agostino's across the street. I'm sipping my coffee and actually getting writing done, trying to motivate myself to walk to the corner for breakfast...

Thank you to everyone who emailed me asking if we were hit hard by hurricane Sandy. Last year, Irene knocked our power out for days and days. But we were luckier this time and just had the rain and winds. Not so the beautiful Rhode Island beaches, which have suffered damage and erosion. And NYC's damage just breaks my heart. Rockaway and Breezy Point and Staten Island, as well as Long island and Jersey shore...they are still suffering out there, and I am--like all of us--sending my prayers and hopes their way. I was in the East Village yesterday (read: aforementioned new sweater and a new pair of glasses after I sat on mine) and didn't see any damage, though I know they lost power for a long time and had flooding. As I took my usual walk from Penn Station, through Chelsea to the West Village, I thought the streets seemed quieter, emptier. Maybe that's due to the power and heat problems? Or maybe just due to the cold weather...

Thank you too to everyone who sent me kind thoughts yesterday commemorating my brother's birthday. Hard to believe he would have been 61, had he not died in a stupid accident thirty years ago. To read about him, go to this link to a piece I wrote in the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04hood.html?pagewanted=all

For those who have asked about my February workshop, JUMPSTART YOUR NOVEL: yes, if you are writing a full length memoir, this workshop would work for you too. I'm really excited to teach this, and excited that it is almost full! I can fit 2-4 more people, so if you are interested, please let me know ASAP. Details are on my last blog. And once we are full I will send further details to everyone.

Don't forget to vote! On election day, I always get very emotional. How lucky I am to be an American, to have this privilege...

Just a quick note about what I am reading and what I am knitting.

Started the first book of the Patrick Melrose novels last night and immediately fell in love. Lucky for me, I bought all four in one volume! I didn't even realize that. But boy am I glad that when I finish one I can go right to the next one!

Also read THE VANISHING ACT, and if you want to be completely charmed, read this book. Loved it!

Happily, I returned to my Friday noon knitting circle and resumed work on my socks. Have no idea what I am doing, but having fun doing it! And one and a half skeins from finishing Sam's blanket, which gives me no time to knit the next two before Christmas. Still, I will keep at it! If you want to see a great collection of knitting pictures, LIKE the Facebook page: il club dei ricordi. My Italian publisher set it up and it rocks!

JUMPSTART YOUR NOVEL

Any writers out there who are interested in attending my weekend workshop, JUMPSTART YOUR NOVEL, should email me here.

The workshop will be held at the end of February here in Rhode Island. It will get you ready to write by helping you answer the questions that you need to ask before you begin writing your novel. You will leave on Sunday with a concrete plan and inspiration to begin.

Arrival is on Friday, February 22, in time for dinner. That night we will talk about your idea for the novel you want to write. Saturday morning I will teach you how I begin my novels, taking you through the steps I put myself through before I begin. After lunch, you will go off and prepare those steps for your novel. Sunday morning we'll share what we've done and I'll give the comments you need to have your plan ready to put into action. When you leave after lunch on the 24th, you will be ready to write your novel!

There will be s'mores, opportunities to hike, reflect, meet other writers.

Space is limited!

Phew!

After four days with Hurricane Sandy in Miami--lots of wind and rain--I was worried that I wouldn't get home before it hit the northeast. The day before I left (Saturday) was perfect weather: sunny and cool and breezy in beautiful Miami. But the weather reports had me itching to get on a flight home. Took a 6:45 one to Newark, rumors swirling that EWR was closing at noon. My connecting flight to Providence left at 11:51 and I made it! Kept thinking about getting stuck without Annabelle in NYC, and for how long that might be. Grateful to be at home as the storm hit, playing Connect Four and doing jigsaw puzzles. Hosted a couple of hurricane dinners. One, chicken with grapes, couscous, green beans, apple crisp. The other, spaghetti carbonara, garlic bread, olive oil grape cake (which I just finished off for breakfast). Tonight we'll eat sandwiches with all the fixings I bought in case we lost electricity.

Now that I've sighed with relief, I have to say how upset I've been watching the destruction in my beautiful NYC. New Yorkers are the strongest, most resilient people around, and they will be fine. But it breaks my heart to see so much underwater or ruined.

Here in RI, one of my favorite spots, The Coast Guard House, is destroyed. Brings back memories of nights spent on its deck, drinking beers and watching the ocean. I hope they too can rebuild.

It is nice however to be at home non-stop, get work done, play with Annabelle, cook and read and enjoy family, friends, and home...

Haven't stopped moving yet

I know, I know, I know. I haven't caught up on emails yet. I'm behind on just about everything. When I said Yes! to everything this fall, I knew that some time, probably mid-October, I would short circuit and  the time is now. Add jet lag to the mix and you've got stressed out me!

But I am heading to beautiful Miami on Wednesday, and though it is work, I always de-stress there. Warm weather. Palm trees. Good food. Good friends. And I am hoping to steal some time to get my proposal for a new novel in shape, which would make me feel oh so happy.

In NYC now and had the great pleasure of coming down with Annabelle. She is such a good traveling companion, and is off to watch the debate and eat ravioli with Cousin Chip while I teach. She got to go to the Book Room at Penguin and scored a LOT of books. She's already read two and is lugging her bag o' books across Greenwich Village now.

Sam's visit home was a whirlwind, if whirlwinds can be too short. No sooner did he land then we were talking about his ride back. But we managed to squeeze in some good dinners (spaghetti and meatballs at Gogo's, big fat steaks at home, slow cooker pulled pork) and even a Name Game before I dropped him off in Hartford and cried my way back home.

I am looking forward to a more peaceful state of mind, more time at home and some overdue nesting.

Lots of traveling means lots of time to read, and I have to recommend STONER, THE YELLOW BIRDS, and THE VANISHING ACT. All novels so good I wish I had written them.

Still knitting Sam's blanket, and started a new thank you dishcloth. My new knitting room has proven to be the refuge I had hoped for, and even in this hectic time I have managed to find a few moments there to cast on and knit a few rows...

Home from Italy

What a week! What a wonderful week. Highlights, in no particular order:

Porcini. Raw in salad. Cooked in risotto. On top of steak. On top of pizza. Roasted with potatoes.

The Last Supper. Breathtaking.

Drinking wine in the garden in Milan.

Having interviews with Italian media and an interpreter.

Drinking prosecco with myItalian team.

La Scala.

Florence. Everything about it.

Our suite in the palazzo.

Our rooftop dinner and the 360 view of Florence at night.

The pontes at sunset.

Gelato. Lemon for me. Strawberry for Gogo. Coconut for Annabelle.

My event at the bookstore next to the Duomo.

Talking with all the Italian knitters.

Drunken spaghetti.

Volpe wine bar.

The David.

Sipping cappuccino at a sidewalk cafe.

Florentine steak.

My new suede coat.

Watching Annabelle fall in love with Florence.

Nebbiola.

Wine tasting and lunch at the winery.

The fog over the hills in Piemonte.

Church bells.

Zucchini blossoms fried. And stuffed in ravioli.

Steak tartare.

Drinking wine with Cousin Gina every evening.

Room service.

Apricot tart and fresh figs.

Salami.

A week with Gogo and Annabelle and Cousin Gina.

And then:

getting pink roses at Logan.

Sipping the single malt from London Duty Free in my own bed.

Waking up at home. Missing Italy. Loving being back...

October

Sore arms from lugging too many bags, sore throat from talking too much! Still on the road, waking up in my NYC apartment with my mind already listing everything that I have to get done before we leave for Italy on Sunday. My favorite and best sleep is my jet lag sleep, so I am already looking forward to falling into that bed in the hotel in Milan and sleeping hard! But that isn't until Monday, which makes it easy to invoke Robert Frost and say I have miles to go before I sleep...

I have almost finished another dish rag, this one all yellow and pink and purple. I'm knitting these for all the wonderful generous writers who are sending blurbs for THE OBITUARY WRITER. I'm knitting thank you into every stitch.

Making progress too on Sam's Wave blanket. Only two more skeins to go before it's finished and I start Annabelle's. Will I get all three done by Christmas????

On the reading front, I started THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY last night and fell immediately in love with it. The first sentence: "The letter that changed everything arrived on Tuesday." Yes! How hard it is for me to convince beginning writers that the event that puts the story into motion shouldn't be obscured. They worry about being too clear, an instinct I understand. But this simple opening completely captivated me, as did every sentence that followed. My only complaint is that I was too sleepy to read more than a dozen pages last night. The author is Rachel Joyce. Read this one!

Well, I am off now to get a haircut. My hair has gotten ridiculously long since my last haircut in Florence in November! So Nissan will have quite a job this morning! There's nothing like a haircut to lift a girl's spirits and start her day off with some excitement.

And then I am home tonight, giving Annabelle the silly little presents I bought her in Baltimore--a stencil of hieroglyphics and a pink bendy eraser--and a million hugs. Off to NC first thing in the morning, and then Friday home again.

Time to pack up my little pink suitcase and head off into the NYC morning. I hope you are getting more rest than I am!